Cable-carrier apparatus.



G. A. AMSDEN.

CABLE CARRIER APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5. 1914.

1 1 76,807. Patnted Mar. 28, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

THE COLUMBIA PLMgoaRAPH c0., WASHINGTON, D. c.

G, A. AMSDEN.

CABLE CARRIER APPARATUS.

APPLICATlON men FEB. 5. 1914.

1,176,807. 7 Patented Mar. 28,1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

THE COLUMBIA PLAIIIOGRAPH c0.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

G. A. AMSDEN.

CABLE CARRIER APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5. 1914.

Patented Mar. 28, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ml: COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON, D. c.

in STAT s anion.

GEORGE A. AMSDEN, OF LITTLETON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE LAMSONCOMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

' CABLE-CARRIER APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 28, 1916.

Application filed February 5, 1914. Serial No. 816,707.

Littleton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Cable- CarrierApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

objects the improvement of the last mentioned apparatus, first bymaterially reduc- 7 ing the noise of the operation thereof and second bythe simplification of parts of said apparatus.

I have further aimed to provide a novel.

switch the principles of which are broadly newcertainly in so far as thecable carrier art is concerned.

1 These and other objects of my invention will be hereinafter referredto and the novel of elements whereby said objects are attained will beparticularly set forth in the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings which forina part hereof and in which like referencecharacters desip'nate ,like parts throughout the several views, I haveexemplified certain preferred I constructions; but as I am aware ofvari- .ous changes and modifications which may be made herein withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention, I desire to be limited onlyby the scope of said claims, broadly considered in the light ofmydisclosure.

' Referring to the drawings Figure 1. is a side elevation, partly brokenaway, of a cable carrier drop-station embodying my invention. Fig. 2 isan end elevation of said drop-station; a further portion of the trackbeing broken out and the. view correspondingly shortened'fo-rconvenience of illustration. Fig. 3 isa detail view of the grip openingand closing cams at thedespatching point in said station. Fig. 41 is arear elevation of the upper part'of said station. Fig. 1 5 is a planView of the same. .55

detail section taken on line VIT YI QfFig.

Fig. 6 is a,

4L drawn to a larger scale. Fig. 7 is a view, similar to Fig. 1, of amodification. Fig. 8

is a detail section taken online VIII-VIII of 1g. 7. Fig. 9 is a similarsectiontaken on line IX-IX of Fig. 7, Fig. 10 is a detail section takenon line XX of Fig. 7

and Fig. 11 is a sectionitaken on line XIXI of Fig. 10. This inventionrelates to cable carrier ap- Thefidetailed description of the station asa whole need bebut brief as it is in many respects similar to thatdescribed in said j01nt application; but the features which concern theimproved switch or bridge will be considered more fully since the gistof the present invention resides therein and in the co-mbmation of suchelements with certain other elements of the system as pointed out in theappended claims.

The main-tracks are both preferably so disposed as to convey the carrierwith its grip point down; the outging track 1 constituting the deliverytrack to'the way stations of which there may be a number, while theincoming track 2, constitute the receiving track for said way stations.

Preferably, but not necessarily, a single endless cable 3, traveling inthe directions indicated by arrows, constitutes the means for elevatingcarriers from the way station .01 stations to the main-receiving track2,

and for thereafter propelling said carriers along sa1d receiving trackpast the subsequently encountered Way stations, while sa1d carriers areon route to, for example, the

cashiers desk. 1

The cable at the station shown is preferably looped down and passesaround idlers or pulleys 4, 5 and 6, suitably journaled in brackets orother supports. -Carriers propelled along track 1 which are intended tobe delivered at the station shown are selectively removed from saidtrack in a known manner by a switch 7 and pass down an independent droptrack 8 tothe station.

Carriers to be despatched from the station are inserted at 9, from theleft as viewed carriers traversing these curved rails are preferablycable propelled while so doing.

If the grip of such a carrier be closed at ,the time ofits. insertiomassaid carrier is desired, since portions 14 may be quite short,

tracks are constructed is preferably steel, the portions 2 and theuprights 14 are reraised by hand to engage it with the elevating sectionof cable, said grip will be swung open by cam 11. Immediately thereaftercam 12 closes the grip directly on this section of cable, and thecarrier moves up toward the switch, broadly designated 13. The lattercomprises parallel sections 2 which are, in the present case, actuallyportions of track 2; and vertical portions 14: which are respectivelyconnected to the portions 2 by brackets 15.

The sections 1 1 and brackets 15 support the free ends 16 of track parts2. In Fig. 6, however, one "of the portions 2 hasbeen broken away toshow the construction thereben eath. Each end 16 is beveled or 'cut awayon its under side to conform it to the curved upper portion of thecorresponding rail of track 10, and the latter terminates at 17 eachrail thereof being beveled off horizonta-l-ly to permit of the passageof the track engaging fianges 18 of through carriers between said ends17 and the correspondingly beveled ends 19 of the rails of track 2 atthis point; y

The respective ends 17 and 19 are held firmly in fixed relationship toeach other by an extended ear or lug 20 of a bracket 20 which alsocarries idler 6. The upright portions 1% are preferably mounted insockets 21, carried by the trabk bracket 22, and are inclined inwardlyand bent forwardly as shown in Figs. 2 and 6, so that their free endsextend inside of the gage of track 2 by about the width of a rail, oneach side. If

in order to impart suflicient flexibility thereto, said portions may becut away oi flattened as at 23 (see Fig. 2); and since the material ofwhich the rails of all of the silient and hence adn'iir'ably adapted toact as springs.

.The track 2 is preferably dipped as at 24 teenable through carriers tobe reengagedwith the cable at this point in the manner hereinafterdescribed; and the upper track .1 iscut away and aperturedor spread at25., in a known manner, to enable the carriers to be removed therefromby the selective switch.

All through carriers or those intended to pass by or over the stationvia track 2 are disengaged from the cable by a cam 26 and hence traversesection 2' by momentum, ridoff of the ends 16 thereof onto the rails oftrack 2 beyond the gap between sections 2 and 14 and dipping down at 24so that their grips maybe re gaged with the cable a cam 27.

A movable cam or grip releasin device 28 is pivoted to bracket 29 and isactuated by a lever 80, mounted on its spindle 81.

never 30 is raised and lowered by a WVhen a carrier en route up track 10would collide with a through carrier at the switch, the cam or trip 28will have been swung inwardly toward the cable from a position where itwould normally'clear the pivoted element of the grip of the ascendingcarrier to one where it will open said grip. The carrier on track willthen drop back until its said grip element engages agrip closing cam 39which rec'ngages the carrier w'ith the cable to againelevate it towardthe switch If by this time no carrier is in contact with rod or member38, the so r'e-despatched carrier will clear cam 28 and will bedelivered to track 2, its flange 4'0 of-fibertr the'like,

provided in carriers of this description, wip-- ing against the switchsupports 14 and as the in-bent portions 'of the latter are encounteredthese supports are pressed apart which spreads the track sections 2";and so permits the carrier to rideup quite noiselessly there between onto track 2. Of course said car- 7 rier thereafter passes cam 27 but itsgrip is already in engagement with the cable 'so' that it need notactually quite touch said cam and hence its passage past this point isagain almost noiseless.

The engagement of the fiber flange with the spreading supports 14 isalso practically noiseless owing to the fact. that metal is not strikingagainst metal and further owing to the very gradual inward slope ofsupports 14; at this point. p of the carrier into the'switch fmay' beproperly said to wedge the section 2 thereof quite gradually andsmoothlyapart; and after the emplacement of the carrier on track 2, theresiliencyv oft he parts 2 and'lt returns them to 7 their normalposition in suchmanner that no stop needb'e provided since the partshave a bias, of themselves, to move into their normal and predeterminedpositions. Hence as the stoppage of'a carrier being despatched, by themovement .of

cam 28 into its path asthe result of the disposition of a passingthrough-carrier upon a particular short length of track 2, occursnormally but comparatively seldom in the operation of the system in astore, practi- In fact theentrance cally the only'appreciable'noise ofthe apparat'us is that occasioned by the opening and closing ofthe'grips of the through carriers as they pass each station, and thisnoise is but slightzbeing but a slight click.

A Even when a carrier on track 10'is forced, "to drop and reengage thecable such noise ,common use, of the type described in my is notobjectionable and as stated above norwhile at the same time the switchconstruction. is simplified and the apparatus rendered more attractivein appearance;

There only remains to be described the modification of the switchembodied in the apparatus shown in Figs. 7, 8, etc. Herein, instead ofintegrally connecting the switch parts 2 to the track 2, separateelements 41 are provided which are each pivoted at 42 to sections ofsaid track 2. As in the former case, supports 43 are connected bybrackets 15 to switch parts 41'; but saidsupports are pivotallyconnected at 44 to the bracket 22 so that there is no inherent tendencyfor the sections 41 to normally dispose themselves in position toproperly guide a through carrier past the station. Instead the switchparts 41 have connected thereto lugs 45 which move therewith asindicated by dotted lines in Fig. 10; the inner ends of these lugs beingadapted to abut against stops 46, of rubber or the like which projectout from anextension 47' at the lower end of the track bracket 47. Eachlug 45 has an ear '45 which is apertured'for the reception of an end ofa coiled spring 48 which tends to hold said lugs against their stops 46.The action of the switch, in so far as the passage of a carriertherethrough or thereover is concerned, is obviously substantially thesame as in the preceding case. The previously described construction isto be'preferred however, not alone on account of its simplicity butfurther on account of its dependability as demonstrated in practice.

a The carriers may be of any desired con- StIllCtlOll but I prefer to.use those, now in Letters Patent No. 960,617, dated June 7, 1910,wherein the grip of the carrier comprises a fixed and a pivotallymounted jaw adapted for engagement with the several grip opening orclosingtrips or cams hereinbefore referred to. a

In conclusion I may state that in the claims appended hereto I have usedthe term spread in the sense in which this term is usually applied torails of any description, and that where reference is made to acompanion rail such rail is one which'extends in substantial, but notnecessarily actual,

parallelism with the rail to be spread or 'moved away therefrom.Further. I desire to direct attentionto the fact that the switchsupports 14 act as auxiliary guides, supplementlng theauxiliarv trackleading up from the ...stat qn,. to steady. the, delivery of canriers-from the latter to the main track 2. The tracks 1, 2 and 10 are ofcourse preferably all of substantially the same gage, and the carriertraversing any one of said tracks does so in actual engagementtherewith, the carrier moving endwise along or on the track 10 in thesame manner that it rides along the tracks 1 or 2.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

' 1. Cable carrier apparatus comprising two substantially tangentiallydisposed tracks of approximately the same gage, a carrier to ride endforemost directly on and successively upon said tracks, means forpropelling said carrier along one at least of said tracks, one of saidtracks having a portion of a rail thereof adapted to be spread away froma companion rail thereof to ad mit of the emplacement of a carrier uponsaid last mentioned track, and means for spreading said portion for thepurpose aforesaid as said carrier, when about to be delivered from oneto the other of said tracks, approaches the point of tangency.

2. Cable carrier apparatus comprising a drop-station, a track extendingpast said drop-station and having a section thereof adapted to guidecarriers thereover onto an adjoining'section, said sections beingdiscontinuous, means at said drop-station for elevating a carrier tosaid track and for moving apart portions of the rails thereof in asubstantially horizontal plane to permit of the emplacement of saidcarrier upon said adjoining section, and means for preventing saidspreading apart of said rails when a through carrier, en route past saidstation, would engage said portions when in their spread condition.

3. Cable carrier apparatus comprising a drop-station, a track extendingpast said drop-station and having a section thereof adapted to guidecarriers thereover onto an adjoining section, said sections being dis:continuous, means at said drop-station for elevating a carrier to saidtrack and forpropelled thereby.

4. Cable carrier apparatus comprising a drop-station, a track extendingpast saiddrop-station and havlng a section thereof adapted to guidecarriers thereover onto an adjoining section, said sections beingdiscontinuous, means at said drop-station for e1e .a ing a carrier. tosaid track andfor moving apart portions of, the rails thereof in asubstantially horizontal plane toperm-it ofv the emplacement ofsaidcarrier upon said ad oining, sect1on, means for preventing saidspreading apart of said rails when a to said track and for movingapartportions of the rails thereof in a'substantially hori- 7 zontalplane topermit of the emplacement of said carrier upon said adjoining section,said means including an auxiliary tracker:- tendingup to said main trackand, curved around at its upper end substantially into tangenoy withtheline of saidmain, track: to deliver carriers to said main track endforemost. 7

6. Cable carrier apparatuscomprisinga drop-station, a main track havinga section thereof adapted to guide carriers thereo-ver part saidstation, and means at said dropstation for guidedly elevating a carrierto said track and for moving a portion. of; a rail thereof away from acompanion. rail topermit of the emplacement of said carrier upon saidmain track, said means including a curved guide along Whichfsaidcarriers travel end foremost, the line of curvature of said guide at itsupper-end being substantially tangent to the line of the main track atsuch point.

7'.v Cable carrier apparatus comprising" a drop-station, a maintrackhaving a, section thereof adapted to guide carriers past said staton, a second track section hav ng an end thereof curved around todelivercarriersend foremost from said drop-station to said main track,said first mentioned section having a yieldingly mounted rail thereofadapted to be spread away from a companion. rail at a determined pointin saidmain track by the passage of a carrier over said second sections,means to propel carriers along one at least of said sections, and meansoperatively connected to said yieldingly mounted rail to spread the sameas said carrier traversing said second section approaches said firstrail section.

V V 8. Cable carrier apparatus comprisinga drop-station, a main trackhaving a section thereof adapted to guide carriers past said station, atrack section of substant ally the same. gasses, said task. ha in-meansito. deliver carriersendwise. from said drop-station tonsaid, maintrack, said first mentioned section. having, a, rails thereofy-ieldin-gly supported laterally, for apart of its lengthnto, adapt itto-besprea'd away; from a companion: rail at a determinedpoint in a saidmain, track, and means to propel acarrieralongv at least one of saidsections and to: spreadsaid rail inmanneriaforesaid.

9. Cable carrier ,.apparatus; comprising. a a drop-station, a. maintrackhaving a section thereof adapted to guide. carriers past saidstation, an auxiliary 'tracksection todeliver carriersfrom saiddrop-station, to, said main track, said auxiliary track sectionhavin-ggthe upper end thereof curved around-to. deliver carriers traversing thesame ,endwise' to. said main track, oneoi saidsections having a railthereof adapted: to be moved glaterally- Withrespecttoa companion railtaper- ;:g mit-the passage of, a carrier past a.-determined pom-tin oneof said tracks, a yielding support. for said movable rail permittingittomove in manner aforesaid, and means 'to propel. said carrier pest ail' detGITmiii dQQJO point.

105.; Cablacarrier apparatus comprisinga station, a maintr'ack adaptedt0 Comeycairiers past said station, a track to deliver carriers to saidmain track hro ghand' b 1'95 tween the rail'sof said-main track; meansfor propelling a carrier along said-second track to said maintrack,auxiliary, guides v id i t ovably mounted'rigid iaee t he Poin o de veryat h e ond mentioned track to said, main track.

12, Cable carrier apparatus comprising a 1115 station, amaint gaclradapted to conveycarriers past said station, guiding means to delivercarriers to said mainirack through and between the" rails of said: maintrack,

means, for. propelling a carrieralongsaid gu ding, means, and movablymountedfopen a-tive connections between a part ,of said main track andapart of said guiding" meansa 1 7' 1 3-. Gablecarrier apparatuscomprising a drop-station, a track extending past said dropsstationandhaving a section thereof adapted to guide, carriers thereover on to anad -m ng-section, meansfat' sald drop-staziaQfl 9 elswatinga arriento.said track and for moving apart portions of the rails thereof to permitof the emplacement of said carrier upon said adjoining section, and sansfor preventing said spreading apart of said rails when a through carrieren route past said station would engage said portions when in theirspread condition.

14. Cable carrier apparatus comprising a drop-station, a track extendingpast said drop-station and having a section thereof adapted to guidecarriers thereover on to an adjoining section, means at said dropstationfor elevating a carrier to said track and for moving at least one of therails thereof relatively with respect to a companion rail to permit ofthe emplacement of said carrierv upon said adjoining section, and meansfor preventing said movement of said rail with respect to its companionrail when a through carrier, en route past said station, would engagethe so moved rail when in its displaced position.

15. Cable carrier apparatus comprising two substantially tangentiallydisposed tracks of approximately the same gage, a carrier to ride endforemost directly on and successively along said tracks, means forpropelling said carrier along one at least of said tracks, one of saidtracks having a laterally movable portion of a rail thereof adapted tobe spread away from a com panion rail thereof by the passage of acarrier end foremost past a part of the path of travel of said lastmentioned carrier.

16. Cable carrier apparatus comprising two substantially tangentiallydisposed tracks of approximately the same gage, a carrier to ride endforemost directly on and successively along said tracks, an endlesscable for propelling said carrier along one at least of said tracks, oneof said tracks having a laterally movable portion of a rail thereofadapted to be spread away froma companion rail thereof by the passage ofa carrier end foremost past a part of the path of travel of said lastmentioned carrier and while the latter is directly in engagement withsaid cable. I

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

GEORGE A. AMSDEN. Witnesses:

ELEANOR C. POEHLMAN, HOWARD A. CHERRY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

